Bush pilot

[0604niko]

Hi,

What kind of licence is obvious for a buch pilot position in Australia,Africa,South America... ?

I'm former military pilot with more than thousand hours of flight, and I'm fifty...

Many thanks for help & advice

[ihoharv]

well, it's the old "if you have to ask it's not for you" situation, but I'll bite.

I live in Northern California and know a few that split their time between here and Alaska. If there are any common characteristics, apart from late-stage cirrhosis, I can summarize as follows:

Tail dragger experts (floats a + for Alaska)
A&P certified - must be able to do more than simple field repairs
Comfort with living an essentially itinerant lifestyle - pretty much modern day cowboys
Self-confidence - able to tell the investment banker who's chartered you that, non, you can't bring that six-hundred pounds of Elk with you.

[AnglianAV8R]

You will need these

BUSH PILOT BIKER PATCH | eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUSH-PILOT-BIKER-PATCH-/121295399689?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c3dc4eb09)

[Flap62]

Well, if the posters location of France is a pointer to his nationality he should have no problems with the "behaving like a cowboy" and "outrageous self confidence" requirements from post no. 2

[rjtjrt]

0604niko
As far as licence, in Australia you need a CPL.
I am not sure if you want the type of licence required, or what experience you need to get a job, or what experience and skills you need to be safe.

There is a good thread here in PPRUNE about flying in Papua/New Guinea at:

http://www.pprune.org/pacific-general-aviation-questions/152566-png-ples-bilong-tok-tok.html

May get help there with this question. It is real bush piloting in PNG.
Hope this helps
John

[Surplus]

Be able to hold your breath for 10 minutes and lick your eyebrows.

Sorry, wrong bush.

[pithblot]

To be a "bush pilot", and do it well, expect a lot of hard work, a steep learning curve and culture shock. I've seen many former military pilots struggle with company related "culture shock" when starting out in GA (and that's civilised GA, not "bush pilot" work) - it is really not for everyone. But there are some out there who just love this kind of work.

Australian or PNG CPL is entry level for those countries.

Have you considered Susi Air? There are a few threads running on PPrune about this company that will let you know the process and what to expect. Some great videos too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susi_Air

Pithblot

[Exascot]

I do a fair number of right hand seat flights here in the Delta just helping out - single pilot ops.. It can be very hard work and to be honest at my age 50+ but pretty fit it would probably kill me!

[Trim Stab]

For East Africa you will need to convert to a Kenya CAA licence (which can then be easily converted to Tanzanian and Ugandan licences). The KCAA conversion exam is not easy, even for native English speakers as some of the questions use odd Kenyan grammar, and there are no study materials available. I took my exam a few years ago and only about 10% of the applicants passed the exam.

In West Africa (both anglophone and francophone) it is easier to find work with an EASA or FAA licence, but there is a lot less true bush-flying.

Even with an acceptable licence, you would need some sort of unique experience (e.g. aerial work) or a sought-after type-rating to have much chance of finding a job. There are many experienced local pilots out of work in any African country and it is no longer easy for first world pilots to find work here.

Have you looked at Zymex in Algeria? They are a Swiss-francophone company, and have a fleet of PC6s which they use to commute to mining strips. You would have to have a PC6 rating, but if IIRC the minimum hours they require are fairly low. It is a stable company with good rotations too.

[Klimax]

If considering East Africa, I would always recommend Tanzania. Getting a licence conversion is reasonably easy in TZ, and then that should make it easier to to convert that to the other East African Community countries. Kenyan CAA is corrupt at sh@t, or at least used to be, and that is not in favor of you - unless you are willing to pay ridicules amounts of money for an otherwise useless licence. The flying in the East Africa and Central Africa is really awesome, and probably some of the best bush flying around, with a combination of dirt and mud strips and the occasional concrete/tarmac field.

Good luck :ok:

[south coast]

It's a young, single man's job who is willing to endure poor living conditions and relatively poor money... I would never recommend it for a middle aged person.

[0604niko]

Many thanks I appreciate

[malc4d]

Also dare l say....the right to work in that country. NOT always an easy thing no matter how good you fly.